Eleven seasons, four teams. The No. 1 overall pick of the 2002 NFL draft and first selection in franchise history for the expansion Texans. Then disappointment, frustration and a quiet decline from starter to backup to professionally invisible.

This is now Derek Carr's time.

David's younger brother and a fellow Fresno State standout tops the second tier of college quarterbacks available in 2014 and is expected to crack the first round during a draft that sees the Texans again holding the premier pick.

To physically and mentally prepare himself for the slow, steep climb toward May 8 - Senior Bowl, scouting combine, pro day, criticism, praise and 32 organizations with constantly prying eyes - Derek turned to David, moving in with his brother as soon as the Bulldogs' 2013 season ended.

The pairing was perfect.

David answered everything Derek asked, running through an endless checklist of on- and off-field dos and don'ts. The quarterback who never became what the Texans wanted was the ideal tutor for the family's second run in the NFL.

Then something funny happened. Each time David shadowed Derek during workouts, a light that was supposed to stay off kept turning on. The burn also was brighter than anything the older brother had felt in years.

"You have to play," a close friend told David. "You can't not play. You're too talented."

Two months before the draft, Derek is playing a waiting game, as names and picks are tied to teams, then jumbled up and reordered in a daily ritual.

David is done waiting. The 6-3, 215-pound quarterback, who last played in a game Dec. 30, 2012, and spent last season out of the league, is making an announcement. He wants back in the NFL. And for the first time in his pro career, he believes he could surprise.

"It's all been positive, and it's been pushing me towards, 'Yeah, I think that I can absolutely do this,' " said Carr, 34, who spent 2002-06 with the Texans, completing 60 percent of his passes for 13,391 yards, 59 touchdowns and 65 interceptions.

"Not only to survive and be an aid in helping a young guy come along," Carr said. "But I can actually go out there and compete, and I feel like I'd do pretty well. All of that has kind of led me to the point I'm at now. I'd like to get out there and see what happens."

Backing up sibling ideal

While the Carr brothers continue to work out with Mike Sullivan, a former offensive coordinator for Tampa Bay and quarterbacks coach with the New York Giants, David has formulated a short-term plan. He will allow the initial wave of free agency and the draft to unfold, then attempt to land with a team needing a proven, drama-less backup QB as training camp nears. He even has a dream scenario: Watching Derek sign with a franchise, then backing up his younger brother in their new world.

"I want to see the situation Derek ends up in," David said. "And if that's even a situation where he is a young quarterback and I can go there, I can guarantee that he will get a mentor and a guy that truly and honestly wants him to succeed. I'd be just as happy having Derek jog out on the field as having myself jog out there.

"I don't know if I necessarily need to be on a team with a guy who's been in the league for 10 years. I don't know if it would be too much of a benefit for either of us."

While the 2013 season officially came and went without David, the 2011 Super Bowl winner - via backing up the Giants' Eli Manning - received two roster-spot offers. Both were declined. The second was a near retirement announcement.

Toward the end of the season, a team suddenly found itself needing a backup. David received the call but eventually turned down the role, opting to spend time with his daughter, Grace, who recently had been diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.

"I made a decision to stay home," David said. "I think it was the right one."

The NFL is more QB-driven than ever.

But an offensive-minded league - which could see three questionable quarterbacks taken in the top five picks of the 2014 draft - also features multiple washouts and no-namers in secondary roles. Jon Kitna, 41, came out of retirement at the end of 2013 to hold a clipboard when backup Kyle Orton became a temporary starter for Dallas.

"There's no question in my mind (David) can be a backup quarterback in the NFL. Absolutely none," said Charley Casserly, the Texans' GM in 2002 and a current NFL Network analyst. "This quarterback class right now that is on the street is very weak. He can absolutely go back."

Feeling the fire

For five seasons in Houston, David's heart and desire were constantly questioned. Eight years after he left the Texans, the simple mention of his name continues to be an instant fire starter for many.

But with another draft approaching and his brother on the verge of fulfilling the first part of a football dream, David now knows what he wants: a new job on an NFL team. A return to the league that once made him No. 1.

"You can feel that way yourself (about returning)," David said. "But until you hear it from outside sources - that kind of triggers a fire in you. It would be a lot of fun."